Minnesota Timberwolves postpone home game amid ICE protests
Bruce Kluckhohn/AP
- The Warriors and Timberwolves were set to play at Target Center in Minneapolis on Saturday.
- The NBA said the game was postponed to prioritize safety.
- ICE agents fatally shot a man on Saturday amid ongoing clashes with Minneapolis residents.
The Saturday game between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves was postponed in a rare move by the National Basketball Association.
The Timberwolves were set to play the California team at Target Center in Minneapolis, a venue that has become a flash point for protests against the Trump administration's aggressive deportation tactics.
Hours before the scheduled game time, a 37-year-old Minneapolis man was fatally shot by federal agents, officials said in a joint press conference with the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection agencies.
The NBA did not reference the shooting in its statement but said "the decision was made to prioritize the safety and security of the Minneapolis community."
The game was rescheduled to Sunday, 5:30 p.m. local time.
A decision to postpone an NBA game amid civil unrest is rare.
The last time the organization postponed a game during civil unrest was in 2020 after multiple teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks, boycotted games in response to the fatal shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Spokespeople for the Timberwolves, Warriors, and NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.